How to Sous Vide Filet Mignon to Medium Rare

sous-videsteak

I made my own Sous Vide with a crockpot and an Arduino and would like to cook a Filet Mignon cut to medium rare.

However, a quick google search of '"sous vide" "medium rare" "filet mignon"' shows contradicting results:

This states 130F for steak in general, not Filet Mignon specifically.
This states 130F for Filet Mignon in particular.
This states 133F for Filet Mignon in particular.
This actually gives not only a range, but a range of 130-139! (for Filet Mignon in particular)
This states 130F for Filet Mignon in particular.
This states 131F for Filet Mignon in particular.
This states 134F for Filet Mignon in particular.
This also has the audacity to give a range of 130-139F but hedges it with 131F.

My sous vide can cook at an exact temperature. Which temperature should I cook Filet Mignon to medium rare?

Best Answer

130F (approx. 54C) works great. That brings it to the very bottom of the "medium-rare scale", allowing you to sear before presentation without overcooking.

Although, I have to tell you, filet mignon is kind of a waste with sous vide. Not that it won't be great, but a much less expensive cut can be cooked at that temperature much longer and give you amazingly tender results.

The minimum time for a medium-rare filet would be just as long as it takes for the whole steak to reach 130F (half an hour or 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak). Of course you can cook it longer, that's one of the beauties of sous vide, but that won't make it any better.

You can spend a whole bunch less money and get chuck (shoulder) and slice it into steaks. Sous vide it for two days at 130F, and that makes a steak almost as tender as filet, yet more flavorful.

That is my very first chuck steak cooked at 131F for two days, then seared. I used a NASA hot cast-iron pan for the searing, so 1°F less will give you a little bit more time to sear without risking overcooking your filet (which would be really tragic!).

Key Point: As Jefromi says in his answer, medium-rare is a scale. If you do 130F this time, consider carefully as you eat. Is the temperature absolutely perfect for you? Keep track of the temperatures you use every time you sous vide and your impressions at that temperature. Once you know what temperatures are perfect for you, sous vide allows you to duplicate perfection perfectly.

Related Solutions

Is lots of red juice normal when making sous-vide steak

Pretty much...yes, but you can fix it!.

When you properly sous vide or very slow cook anything, you'll retain more of the myoglobin color because of the even cooking that often doesn't go above 140 at all. So a properly cooked steak like this will retain much more of its red colored myoglobin. Simply put, the meat will have more red juices to release! (Its a great, great thing about sous vide.)

As @Ronald mentions, the other thing is the resting of the meat. It's an important step as the muscle fibers relax after the heat is off and hold juices better then. An often misstep for the home cook is they allow a hot piece of meat to rest on a flat, solid surface. This causes the bottom of the meat to steam against the board, open the fibers in the meat more, and release the juices on to the board. Rest your meat on a raised baking rack so that it has air circulation all around it.

After a short rest - for most steak 10 minutes is fine, then you can cut into the steak. Use a very sharp knife to slice. The meat here is essentially a sponge and you don't want to compress it and squeeze out the juices. A dull knife will do this and you'll lose more juice on the cutting board again. Use a sharp knife and apply steady, even, but light pressure while slicing - let the edge do the work (if it won't, sharpen the knife more).

How long does breakdown of collagen etc. take for sirloin cooked sous vide

Sirloin steak doesn't have a huge amount of collegen, which is why it's traditionally cooked over high heat for as short a period of time as possible. If I were you I'd be more worried about the meat become unpleasantly mushy if left in the bath for too long. I would just use the Douglas Baldwin tables for bringing the meat up to the required temperature:

Heating Time from 41°F (5°C) to 1°F (0.5°C) Less Than the Water Bath’s Temperature

Thickness   Slab-like   Cylinder-like   Sphere-like
  15 mm       35 min       18 min          13 min
  20 mm       50 min       30 min          20 min
  25 mm       1¼ hr        40 min          25 min

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Is lots of red juice normal when making sous-vide steak

How long does breakdown of collagen etc. take for sirloin cooked sous vide

Related Topic